51st State

Contents

1959

September 1st: Puerto Rico becomes the 51st state by a vote of 57%-43%.

1960

Electoral college 1960

Richard Nixon defeats John F. Kennedy for the Presidency in one of the closest elections to date. JFK had become unpopular among Latinos, Puerto Ricans and other supporters of Puerto Rican statehood because of his opposition to the statehood movement.

1961

President Nixon orders the U.S. Air Force to support the invasion at the Bay of Pigs. Castro is killed attempting an escape from Havana and Cuba is secured within months of the invasion. The invasion sparks international condemnation, led by the Soviet Union. A provisional government is established.

Khrushchev isn't as willing to test Nixon as he was for Kennedy, avoiding the Berlin Crisis but still putting up a wall in Berlin.